Australia vs New Zealand: Labour force participation rate
Labour force participation rate over time
- Australia
- New Zealand
How they compare
New Zealand currently reports 70.5 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup against 66.92 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup in Australia, a difference of 3.58 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup.
That makes New Zealand's figure about 1.1 times Australia's.
Across all 40 years both countries report, New Zealand has been ahead every year.
Australia ranks 5th and New Zealand ranks 2nd of 33 countries.
New Zealand has averaged higher in every one of the 5 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Australia | New Zealand | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 62.35 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup | 65.36 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup | 3.02 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup | New Zealand |
| 1990s | 63.11 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup | 64.43 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup | 1.33 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup | New Zealand |
| 2000s | 64.21 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup | 67.11 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup | 2.9 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup | New Zealand |
| 2010s | 65.17 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup | 69.06 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup | 3.9 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup | New Zealand |
| 2020s | 66.2 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup | 71.05 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup | 4.85 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup | New Zealand |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher labour force participation rate, Australia or New Zealand?
- New Zealand, at 70.5 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup against 66.92 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup in Australia as of 2025.
- What is the difference in labour force participation rate between Australia and New Zealand?
- 3.58 Percentage of working age population in the same subgroup, with New Zealand ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Australia and New Zealand?
- 40 years are reported by both, from 1986 to 2025.
- How do Australia and New Zealand rank globally for labour force participation rate?
- Australia ranks 5th and New Zealand ranks 2nd of 33 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Labour force participation rate. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
The infra-annual dataflow on the labour force participation rate is a subset of the infra-annual labour statistics database, which contains predominantly monthly and quarterly statistics on the labour force participation rate by age groups (15+, 15-24, 25-54, 55-64, 15-64 and 15-74 where available) and sex and associated statistical methodological information and associated statistical methodological information, for the OECD member countries and for selected other economies. The labour force participation rate is calculated as the number of the labour force population as a percentage of the working age population. The infra-annual labour statistics compiled for all OECD member countries, are drawn from Labour Force Surveys based on definition provided by the 19th Conference of Labour Statisticians in 2013. The uniform application of these definitions across all OECD member countries results in estimates that are internationally comparable.